Serbs hunt PM's assassins

March 15 2003By Beti Bilandzic, Fredrik DahlBelgrade

Serbian police made dozens of arrests yesterday as they swept through the underworld in their hunt for the killers of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

Police arrested 56 people, officials said, including eight key members of a criminal group believed to be behind the assassination of the reformist premier, who played a pivotal role in ousting former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Three of those arrested asked for protected witness status and were giving statements to a prosecutor.

But officials said police were still looking for the three prime suspects - leaders of the so-called Zemun gang, including a former commander of a special police unit that saw action in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Acting Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic said the perpetrators were set on changing the nature of the Government. ");document.write("

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He said the goal of the killers was to bring about a change of government by destabilising the country and creating chaos.

Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic, another leading reformer, told a news conference that the Government would not be cowed.

"We will arrest all those who planned this, and those who resist we will liquidate," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Zarko Korac described the Zemun gang as "probably the best organised gang in the Balkans, with millions of euros obtained from kidnappings".

He added: "Several of them have been in hiding for several days, which is very close to an admission of guilt."

Zemun's leader, Legija, who was schooled under the warlord Arkan, is the most dangerous man in Serbia. Born in Belgrade in 1965, he joined the French Foreign Legion during his early 20s, serving for seven years.

He returned to a war-torn Yugoslavia in 1992 and joined Zeljko Raznatovic, Arkan's guard and Serbia's most infamous indicted war criminal before he was shot dead three years ago.

The European Union, which Serbia aspires to join, rushed to give assurances that the 15-nation bloc would support Belgrade in its attempts to shore up stability in Serbia and the Balkans.

European foreign policy chief Javier Solana and External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten flew to Belgrade to express the EU's continued political and financial support for Serbia, impoverished after a decade of Balkan wars and isolation.

"There can be no going back, no turning back," Mr Patten said.

Political analysts said Serbia had to move swiftly to crush the criminal gangs behind the murder or face chronic instability, which would ruin its chances of rejoining Europe's mainstream.

"It is a wake-up call, especially for those in the West who have failed to acknowledge the power of organised crime in south-east Europe,"said Misha Glenny, author of books on the former Yugoslavia and the Balkans.

Mr Djindjic, 50, who became Prime Minister in February 2001, was shot outside Belgrade's main government building.

Belgrade police chief Milan Obradovic said three assassins took part in the killing.

It was Mr Djindjic who sent Mr Milosevic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity linked to the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. The decision enraged Serbian nationalists.

Experts said a prolonged power vacuum could spark more political violence, scare off much-needed foreign investment and drag down the rest of the region.

The Government, vowing to press on with reforms to snuff out the mafia-like culture spawned under Mr Milosevic's rule, named around 20 of Zemun's alleged leaders. Among those still at large was Milorad Lukovic, a former head of the "Red Berets" - a special police unit that fought in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

The Government announced three days of mourning for Mr Djindjic - the first European government leader to be killed since Swedish prime minister Olof Palme in 1986.

Hundreds of mourners filed past the government building in central Belgrade, laying flowers and lighting candles. Mr Djindjic's funeral will be held in Belgrade on Saturday.

His death leaves Serbia without a prime minister or an elected president since two votes failed due to a low turnout.

Another presidential poll is not expected for several months, but Mr Djindjic's Democratic Party, the biggest in the ruling DOS coalition, said it would nominate a new prime minister on Sunday.

Mr Covic, a deputy prime minister, said he did not want to extend his role as acting prime minister.